As
the days passed, Ed's life became a nightmare of bells, classes,
meals, and nights where he couldn't sleep. Every morning he got
up, washed, dressed, and had breakfast in the dining hall with Axel.
Every day he went to classes where he didn't hear a word, and he
did assignments that he couldn't remember completing. He studied
books he couldn't remember opening, and he found lecture notes in
his handwriting that he didn't remember writing. It was as if his
mind was taking nothing in.

It
didn't take him long to realize that the teachers were expecting a
great deal of brilliance from him, but he had no motivation to give
it to them. As long as he behaved and did well in those classes, Al
would be fine, and he had no reason to push himself to the heights
the teachers expected. All of his thoughts were centered on Al and
not on making his jailers proud of him.

Alchemy
class was a vision of hell on earth. The teacher had displayed a
skill in alchemy that had actually enabled a plant to feel pain, and
the vision of that writhing plant had still not left his mind. He
knew that what they were doing was making plant chimeras, but he
wasn't sure how they were able to make them think, feel, or learn.
Somehow, he didn't really want to know. All he wanted was for it
all to end.

He
wasn't sure how long it was before food began to repulse him. The
thought that he'd have to eat again only a few hours later made him
want to scream, and a meal rarely stayed in his stomach longer than a
half-hour before he'd have to rush to the nearest restroom to be
sick. He began to lose weight, and his uniforms didn't fit him as
well as they used to. He'd always been fit thanks to Izumi's
training and sparring with his brother on a daily basis, but now he
was whipcord and bone and little else. As Aunt Pinako would have
said, he had no meat on his bones.

One
day, he slid out of his seat in grammar class and was unconscious
before he even hit the floor. When he came to, he found himself in a
bed that was in a row with other beds in a large, white room. At the
far end of the room there was a door that stood partway open, and Ed
could hear someone moving about in the room beyond. As Ed fought to
sit up, the door opened wider to reveal an older, weary-looking man
with a kind face. He smiled at Ed, and Ed felt a smile twitch the
corners of his mouth in response.

"I've
had students that have come to me with stomachaches, headaches,
backaches, every kind of ache, colds, influenza, pneumonia, and a few
diseases I haven't heard of, and I even had one student who was
convinced he was dying, but you're the first ever carried in here
unconscious by a panicked professor," he said, going to Ed's
side. "I haven't seen you before, and I know there's only been
one new student lately, so you must be Edward Elric. Am I right?"

"Yeah,"
Ed said, fighting against his instinct to trust this man. "Who are
you?"

"I'm
the physician at this lovely prison they call a school," the man
joked. "I'm as much a prisoner as any student here since Shaula
finds me far too useful, so I have to say I'm very sorry you're
here. I'm Doctor Cyrus."

Ed
found a real smile starting.

"How
long have you been feeling poorly?" the doctor asked, taking Ed's
pulse.

The
doctor nodded again. "I see. Have you been getting sick to your
stomach a lot?"

"Every
time after I eat."

"Headaches?
A feeling of being not-quite-there?"

Ed
blinked. "How'd you know that?"

"It's
common. You're going to be with me for a few days, so settle in
for a good rest. I'll do what I can to help."

"Help
me get better?" Ed asked, hoping that this man could help him get
out and find Al.

"Among
other things," Dr. Cyrus said, giving him an encouraging wink. "Do
you know how long you've been asleep?"

"I've
slept?"

"For
two days," Dr. Cyrus confirmed. "Right now you're very weak.
Is there anything you'd like to eat? Something special? Sometimes
a little treat is as good for the body as medicine."

"No,
not really," Ed told him. "I don't feel like eating."

Dr.
Cyrus regarded him, looking concerned. "Well, you should be
ravenous about now. How about I get you something and you try
eating? Then, we'll take it from there."

"Do
I have a choice?" Ed said, reluctant to try choking something down.
The food was okay (it didn't taste terrible and they were allowed
to have as much as they liked), but he just didn't want to eat
something to have it come back up again like had been happening.

"No,
you don't," the doctor said, still looking concerned. "You
need food and fluids or you'll become even worse than you are now.
Trust me, you don't want that. If you think you feel bad now…"
He trailed off, and seemed to think. "Anything you'd rather not
have?"

"Milk,"
Ed said promptly, certain that if he tried to drink milk now, he
would be even sicker. "I hate milk."

Dr.
Cyrus assured him that he would not be given milk and left, telling
him that he would only be a few minutes. A few minutes he was, and
he was back carrying a covered tray that he placed across Ed's lap
after helping him to sit up. He removed the cover with a slight bow
and flourish, revealing a bowl of dark broth, a few slices of bread,
and a glass of fruit juice.

"It
won't be too taxing on your stomach," the doctor explained. "And
I want you to eat slowly. I don't think you'll be sick again,
but you can never be too careful."

While
Dr. Cyrus busied himself with some papers at a nearby table, Ed took
cautious spoonfuls of the broth and a few bites of bread. He waited
for it to make an immediate reappearance and was surprised when it
didn't. He was even more surprised when his stomach growled,
demanding more.

"I
thought that was the case," the doctor said, not turning around to
face Ed.

"What?"

"I
thought you would feel hungry after having a little bit to eat.
Sometimes the stomach needs a jump-start."

"Like
a car?"

"Mm-hmm."

Ed
thought about this and sipped his juice. It was funny, thinking
about the body like a machine, but it made sense. It needed fuel to
work, and being sick could be a sign of needing repair. He smiled to
think of a doctor as a mechanic. He could remember his mother back
when he and Al had been sick with the chicken pox while they were
kids. She'd said, "Well, this won't do. We'll have to fix
this." When he'd been that young, he'd thought that she could
fix anything in the world from a broken toy to two sick little kids.
The only thing she hadn't been able to fix was herself.

"I
miss Al," Ed said, pretending that he hadn't been crying. He
hadn't been, anyway. At least, he hadn't really
been crying. Just a little choked up. That could happen, couldn't
it, once in a while?

"Well,
we'll have to see what we can do to fix that," Dr. Cyrus said,
echoing Ed's memories. "If it has something to do with your
health, then the headmaster will listen to me. I'll see if I can't
get your brother brought here or you taken to where he is."

"As
serious as it's possible for one human man to be," he assured the
boy. "Why don't you finish eating, and I'll go make a report
to the headmaster. I'll suggest that you'll do much better if
you could be with your brother."

Ed
was willing to eat a twenty-course meal after that promise, but the
doctor said that a little more broth and bread would be fine. He
left, and for the first time since landing in that wretched school,
Ed felt a tiny modicum of hope fluttering in his chest. If only he
and Al could be together, then perhaps they could think of some way
to defeat Shaula and free all those other kids.

Space

No
one at Gutholz Schule could understand it. Alphonse Elric was not
settling well. He did not want to attend his classes, he did not
want to eat, and he showed very little interest in anything. Even
though he was told that his brother would be punished if he did not
start going to classes and eating, he did not seem to care. Most of
what he did was stay in his room, and if one of the teachers tried to
talk some sense into him, he quickly dissolved into tears and began
wailing for his brother. Doing that upset all the teachers and a
great many of the students, and it was impossible for them to calm
him. It was as if he were determined to keep indulging in fits of
hysterics.

Shaula
was contacted after two weeks of this behavior and after the boy
ended up in the infirmary, suffering from nervous exhaustion.

"One
child and you can't control him!" she said sarcastically. "Is
he really so formidable?"

"We've
had difficult ones before!" she snapped, not willing to accept
excuses. "You just have to break him! It shouldn't be taking
this long!"

"We've
tried talking to him, threatening him, threatening his brother,
isolation…" one of the teachers listed. "Nothing seems to
work!"

"Oh,
come now!" Shaula began, but the alchemy teacher cut her off.

"Do
you know what he did a few days ago when I told him his brother would
suffer if he kept behaving this way?" the man wanted to know. "He
broke into the classroom and killed every plant we have! Weeks of
work gone! Nothing deters him!"

That
surprised her. "Did he say why he did it?"

"Something
about keeping innocent plants from suffering," he answered,
sounding tired. "We gave him the standard punishment for wrecking
something, but he seemed happy about that. He's a very odd child."

"Let's
see what he'll say after I visit him," Shaula said, rising from
her chair. "Where is he now?"

"In
the infirmary."

"Well,
I'd better go and see the poor darling," she said, heading out
the door and down the hall. "I won't be long."

She
reached the infirmary and opened the door, but she received a very
big surprise as an alchemical reaction struck her in the face. She
screamed, she heard a child laugh, and then felt something brush past
her. The other adults came running and manage to catch Alphonse as
he tried to get outside, and together they pulled him back into the
infirmary.

"Why
did you do that?" Shaula demanded as a doctor tried to put the boy
into restraints.

"You
deserved it," the boy snapped. "I don't know where you have
Brother, but I'm not going to sit around here and let you keep him
locked up without a fight!"

"Ah,
but you see, your brother's doing the exact opposite," Shaula
said, giving the boy an icy smile. "He's being as good as we
could wish. He doesn't dare get into trouble while we have you.
Perhaps he doesn't care enough about you to try to get away to
rescue you?"

"You
don't know my brother," Al said, smiling. "He'd never do
anything to hurt me. If he thinks that getting into trouble would
hurt me, then he wouldn't do it. If he thinks sneaking out would
help me, then he would do it. If I were you, Shaula, I'd let the
both of us go. We're more trouble than we're worth. We'll end
everything you're doing and all of your plans will be ruined by
keeping us."

She
gave him the most condescending smile she could muster. It wasn't
that she believed him. After all, he and his brother were just two
children; how could they ever do anything to hurt her? How could
they possibly ruin her plans? They were children!

"I
doubt that very much, dear," she said. "Nothing you or your
brother can do could possibly hurt me. You are children. What can
you do? No, your job is to obey and be good and accept your new
lives. That's all I ask, after all. Is that so hard? So
difficult? If you did that, I would be very happy and I would love
you both very much. Isn't that what you want? Someone to love
you? Isn't that what all children want?"

She
glared at him. "That isn't a nice thing to say, Alphonse. You
should remember your brother. After all, how do you think he would
feel if he was given a beating because you
had been rude?"

Al
thought about this. What would Ed say if he had been asked that
question?

"He's
a tough guy. He can handle it."

Shaula
gave an inarticulate screech of rage and leapt from her chair.
"We'll see about that!" she shouted as she left the infirmary.

Al
hoped that he had been right about Ed, and he hoped that Brother
could forgive him for doing that to him, but they couldn't allow
Shaula to control them. They had to get away and find some way to
shut her down.

Space

Dr.
Cyrus was shocked almost beyond words when the headmaster arrived and
said that Edward Elric was scheduled for a beating. After a moment
of shock, he demanded that the man leave the infirmary. After all,
Edward was not well and did not need or deserve a beating for being
sick!

"It's
happening on Shaula's orders," he said as Shaula walked in behind
him. "Out of the way, Dr. Cyrus."

"I
refuse to allow you to do this to the boy!" the doctor shouted. "I
won't allow it!"

"Duly
noted, Doctor, now, if you don't mind, we have a punishment to
administer," Shaula said, sounding bored.

Other
teachers kept the doctor from interfering and one hauled Ed from his
bed and delivered the punishment. Ed knelt on the floor, gasping and
refusing to cry aloud or even say "ow." He'd show this ugly
cow what the Elric brothers were made of!

"The
headmaster's told me that the doctor thinks you will do better if
you could be with your brother," Shaula said, kneeling down in
front of him and lifting his head by his hair. "That isn't going
to happen. You have your brother to thank for that beating, by the
way. Just thought you should know."

She
was halfway to the door when a dry little chuckle stopped her.
Amazed, she whipped around to see what the boy could possibly be
laughing at.

"Nice
to know," he said, getting to his feet, "that Al's not letting
you push him around. He's got more guts than I do."

Shaula
glared and rushed at him, intending to backhand him for such
insolence.

"He
said that we'd ruin every plan you have, didn't he?" Ed asked.
That simple question stopped Shaula in mid-step.

"Wh-what?"
she said, surprised.

"It's
true, you know," Ed said, looking her in the eye. "You'd
better let us both go and quit while you're ahead. You don't
know what it is you're dealing with."

"I
know I am dealing with two very stubborn children," she snapped.
"Every child has a point when he can't fight anymore. You and
your brother will reach your points eventually. I'm not going to
give up."

She
glared at him. "I think we both underestimate each other. Keep
that in mind, Edward."

"Likewise."

The
maddening child did not give up! Unable to speak again without
losing her temper, she swept out of the room, determined
to find some way to break the both of them. The sooner she did, the
better.

Space

Edward
woke up as someone crept into the infirmary. He could hear Dr. Cyrus
in the adjoining bedroom snoring, so it wasn't the doctor. No, the
footsteps were far too light. It had to be a kid. When he sat up,
ready to either kick the kid out or punch him, he got a surprise. It
was a kid he didn't recognize, and he'd already met everyone.
"Who are you? You new?"

"And
you're Edward Elric, the State Alchemist," Stephen said, sitting
down on a bed across from him. "And they have your brother. What
if I could bring him to you and you two could escape together?"

Ed
stared at him, not certain what to think. "Why would you do that?
Why not help me escape right off?"

"Well,
if one of you disappeared, they would watch the other one much more
closely to make sure he didn't. If you both escaped at the same
time, then they would have more trouble finding the pair of you."

Ed
looked at him, not quite certain to believe him or not. After all,
this could be a trick of Shaula's. "Tell me what your plan is
and why I should think it would work."

"I
would run away again. You see, in the past, I've always run to the
same place and they've always found me again there. This time, I
won't go there, I'll go find your brother. I heard Shaula
mention where he was, so I'll go there and help him break out.
Then, two days after I leave, you'll break out and meet up with us.
Then, I'll let them catch me in my usual place so they'll think
that we were working separately, instead of together. Then you and
your brother can inform the State about this place and Shaula and
something can finally be done about her. Do you agree?"

Ed
thought about this. Stephen sounded as if he were telling the truth,
and it was a sound plan. Perhaps it would work. Perhaps this would
be the beginning of the end for Shaula.

"All
right," he heard himself saying. "Let's do it."

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